Fantastic 4

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Is bathing in cosmic rays as fantastic as it should be?

By Juan Castro

The recent trend in comics-inspired blockbusters has spurred an equal phenomenon in the games industry. And for the first time since God-knows-when these game adaptations haven't sucked. On the contrary, they've each delivered a unique brand of superhero action grounded in solid, sometimes inventive gameplay mechanics.

Take Activision's X-Men Legends and Spider-Man 2, for example. Both games offered something more than the tired beat-em'-ups of yesteryear. Later this year, Vivendi Universal will release The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, a game that finally lets you experience the type of destruction only the Hulk could cause.

But that's for a later time. For now, there's the upcoming Fantastic 4 film and its videogame interpretation of the same name. Like most comic book properties, those comprising the titular group of heroes boast truly wicked powers. "The Invisible Woman" Sue Storm can vanish before the eyes of her foes and blast them with force shields. "Mr. Fantastic" Reed Richards, the leader of the group, plays the role of human taffy and stretches his body a long, long ways. "The Human Torch" Johnny Storm can set himself ablaze at will. And "The Thing" Ben Grimm looks and acts like the Hulk, only less green, made of rock and is somewhat nicer.

Any one of these superhuman characters would make for an awesome game, if done right, let alone all four. The one thing capable of sabotaging such a thing would the improper implementation of the super powers. After all, if you don't really feel like the Thing or Mr. Fantastic there's not too much of a point in having a game about them, right? Unfortunately, this critical aspect is where Fantastic 4, developed by 7 Studios, doesn't get it exactly right. See, there are plenty of different powers and abilities, and the game does try to exploit them, but flexing your fantastic muscle just isn't as fun or intuitive as it should be.

To start, however, you should head over here to check out previous coverage of the game. But for those who don't want to click over, here's a quick rundown. Fantastic Four mirrors the general plot of the movie, but adds several enemies and scenarios from the comic book.

The reason, of course, is to increase the length of the game. Not that comic book fans will care -- the more the merrier. Fantastic 4 plays like a traditional action brawler, meaning you'll progress through a series of linear stages, facing enemies, mini-bosses, and boss as you progress toward the ultimate boss. The main game splits between 10 story missions, each of which is made up of a series of sub-missions.

At any given time, you'll either control one, two, or all characters of the group. This all depends on the mission or sequence. Boss fights usually feature all four heroes, for example, while less intense situations will feature only one or two. You can switch between available characters dynamically using the D Pad, with the CPU handling fellow teammates in your absence. This system actually works very well and never gets in the way of the action. Switching heroes is fast, easy and intuitive, just as it should be. Once you're controlling them, though, things get a less refined.

Each hero can perform six upgradeable combos and three upgradeable cosmic powers, along with the usual assortment of punches, kicks, and grappling maneuvers. The combo techniques look and act like your everyday string of physical attacks. They're pretty straightforward and lack a little pizzazz, yet they're effective and easy to pull off. Cosmic powers form the backbone of your arsenal, and like the combos, each of these abilities is very effective and easy to use. Cosmic powers exploit each of the character's unique abilities, so they let The Human Torch throw fire balls and raise walls of fire, where Sue Storm can raise shields, project energy waves, and turn invisible.